Whole House Re-Pipes

Why should I have my house Re-Piped?

Having your house entirely Re-Piped is a big job! The job itself averages from 2-3 days and could be even longer depending on the amount of work required. So why would anyone want to change out their existing water lines anyway? There could be a number of reasons why you may choose to have a Re-Pipe done. However, there are three common scenarios in which you may want to consider having your house Re-Piped.

If your house has Polybutylene Pipe

The first common reason you should consider having your house Re-Piped is if you have Polybutylene Pipe. Polybutylene is essentially a time bomb. It slowly begins to decay from the inside out, cracking internally until pinholes are created all throughout the pipe. These pinholes turn in to big problems. While it is possible to cut this section of the pipe out and replace it with another pipe, Polybutylene decays all over, not just in one or two spots. In addition to this, the bad connections used with Polybutylene have been proven to fail. In fact, this pipe is so poor that there was even a class action lawsuit against it! If you have this pipe, you ultimately will have to have a total Re-Pipe done.

If you have Copper Pipe and get your water from a well

The second common scenario in which you should consider having your house Re-Piped is if you have Copper Pipes and receive your water from a well. Copper Pipes are excellent pipes under most circumstances. Typically, they are very durable and will last for many, many years. Unfortunately, this is not so if your water comes from a well. When water comes from the County, it goes through numerous filters which entirely remove any tonic acid that are harmful to copper. On a well the tonic acid goes straight to your pipe. Even the heartiest filtration systems are unable to remove it. In these instances, the tonic acid draws out the copper minerals in the pipe. Over time pinholes begin to form all throughout your system. As is the case with Polybutylene, a Whole House Re-Pipe will need to be done to permanently resolve the problem.

If you have a leak under the slab

The third reason to have your house Re-Piped is if you have a leak under the slab. In some cases it may be determined that your pipe is leaking but is not accessible to repair because the leak is under the slab. Once verified that the leak is beyond the point of distribution, the best way to correctly resolve the leak is to have the entire house Re-Piped. By doing so, we are able to bypass the leak and ensure that your pipes are in great condition. While there are companies that will attempt to fix this problem by opening up the slab, we do not recommend going that route. The best case scenario with slab work is a fixed pipe that is, once again, buried under the slab and out of reach. In addition, it is typically a far more difficult experience selling your house down the road. The foundation of the house will be considered compromised once it has been opened up. The worst case would be having to open up multiple sections of slab because either the location of the leak was detected inaccurately or because of multiple leaks in the system.

Re-Piping Your House on a Slab, Basement, and Crawlspace

Whether your house is on a slab, a basement, or a crawlspace plays a significant role into how we perform your Re-Pipe. If your house is on a slab, we tie in to the existing water line coming into the house and distribute water to the house via the attic. When we do this, we always insulate the pipe with a special insulation designed just for pipes and reinforce it by covering it in the insulation that is already in your attic. In this manner we are able to prevent your pipes from freezing even in the coldest winters. Out of all the many houses we have Re-Piped in this manner, not a single one has frozen.

If your house is on a basement, we will tie into the existing line coming into the house and redistribute the water from above the basement. Only in an unfinished basement will you see the pipes. Even in those cases, we always take the time to secure our pipes in a manner that look great as well as function great.

For houses that are on a crawlspace, we distribute the pipes via under the house. If your house is a one story house on a crawlspace, there is often a minimal amount of sheetrock opening that will be required to complete this job. All of our Re-Pipes include our 1 Year Parts and Labor Warranty.

What pipe will you use to Re-Pipe my house?

When we Re-Pipe your house, we prefer to Re-Pipe it with Uponor Aquapex piping. Aquapex is a very high quality pipe that holds up incredibly well with either treated city water or well water. Aquapex’s fitting system is superior to the standard pex system in that the pipe itself expands via a specialty tool and contracts back over the fittings. The pipe itself will always try to revert back to its original form prior to expansion, creating a permanent and strong hold on the fittings. The fittings themselves are also “Full Port” fittings, meaning they do not reduce the flow of water running through them.

Standard pex operates on a different system. The fittings still go inside of the pipe and are crimped together, but the pipe does not expand. In order to achieve this, their fittings are smaller. They are not “Full Port” and will reduce the flow of water. Overtime, this can cause problems throughout the system. In addition, standard pex attempts to revert back to its original form prior to being crimped to the fittings. Unfortunately, this means that it is always attempting to pull away from the fittings. The crimp rings are designed to prevent this from happening but are not always sufficient over time. One manufacturer of crimp rings in particular has already undergone a class action lawsuit for this failure.

There are three additional benefits to having your home Re-Piped with Aquapex. First, Aquapex is a flexible pipe that comes in rolls of 100′ and greater. As a result, we are often able to run this pipe in a manner that greatly reduced the amount of fittings in your plumbing system. While the Aquapex fittings are of very high quality, a fitting of any type still tends to be the weakest point in a plumbing system. By reducing the amount of fittings, we are able to reduce weaker links in the system.

As an expandable pex pipe, Aquapex is virtually freeze-proof. It is designed to swell up to three times its size in the even of a freeze. Water tends to freeze to twice its size. For this reason, Aquapex is an ideal pipe to run in an attic, crawlspace, or any other location where there is a risk of freezing.

Lastly, the manufacturers are so confident in their product that they offer a 25 year warrenty to any Aquapex product that is installed by an Uponor certified installer. All of our plumbers have taken the Uponor training class and are certified to offer this warrenty. We will gladly present our certification cards (as well as our plumbing license) upon request.

Additionally, if you do not receive water from a well, you have the option to have your house Re-Piped with Copper Pipe. However, we typically recommend sticking with Aquapex. It is much cheaper than copper and the installation is also a much lower price. Do not take this to mean that Aquapex is a lower quality product however! Either pipe will last you for many, many years to come and both options include our 5 Year Piping and Labor Warranty. If you are interested in learning more about Re-Piping your house, give us a call today to schedule your free estimate.

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